• Did Blackstone Sell Too Soon?

    According to recent media reports, real estate investor The Blackstone Group has sold and is in the process of selling about $1.8 billion in seniors housing assets. It wants to completely exit the seniors housing business which they claim has been a disaster for them. One report stated that they have lost upwards of $600 million across the... Read More »
  • Brookdale Continues Winning Streak

    The big question is, why did this not happen earlier? We are talking about Brookdale Senior Living’s occupancy recovery, and why the previous leadership seemed unable to move the needle, but as soon as they were gone, everything has been on an upward trend. Hmmmmm.  Things are not perfect at Brookdale, but they never were. However,... Read More »
  • National Health Investors Adjusts Its SHOP Portfolio

    National Health Investors, Inc. announced some adjustments to its SHOP portfolio, raising its full-year guidance for the third consecutive quarter due to the contribution of recently transitioned and newly acquired SHOP properties, along with continued strength in its investment pipeline. The REIT also had an update on its lease agreement with... Read More »
  • Strawberry Fields’ Three Separate SNF Transactions

    Strawberry Fields REIT, Inc. announced three separate skilled nursing transactions that closed during the third quarter. Two previously announced acquisitions were in Missouri, and the recently announced purchase was in Oklahoma.  In July, the REIT completed the acquisition of nine skilled nursing facilities with 686 beds in Missouri. The... Read More »
  • Receivership Estate Sells in Alabama

    Kory Buzin and Steve Thomes of Blueprint handled another successful sale on behalf of a lender and special servicer, this time involving a receivership estate in Mobile, Alabama. Knollwood Point, a 2001-vintage, 46-unit assisted living and memory care community, struggled in recent years as a result of challenged occupancy and volatile staffing.... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Brookdale Senior Living and SWAT

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Brookdale Senior Living and SWAT

Brookdale Senior Living announced it had recently formed SWAT teams to deal with its lowest-occupancy buildings to try to get them over the 80% hump, and there are a lot of them. Since then, the term SWAT team has been appearing more and more with other providers.  SWAT is a scary term, and stands for Special Weapons and Tactics, and in law enforcement is used to deal with barricaded persons, active shooting scenes and high-risk search warrants. Not exactly something we want to be associated with trying to get customers into senior living. But I understand the intent. The other frequently used term is the “silver tsunami” about to hit us. Again, a tsunami is extremely destructive,... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts

60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts

There will be significant political interest in what happens to Medicaid funding as Republicans work to pass a budget and tax bill with their very slim majority. Touching entitlements remains politically risky, and the party is divided on whether any Medicaid cuts would be acceptable heading into an election cycle. At this stage, per-capita caps on federal Medicaid payments to states do not appear to be under serious consideration. However, even without direct federal cuts, rulemaking changes could materially affect Medicaid-dependent providers. CMS has issued a proposed rule that aims to close what it describes as a Medicaid “tax loophole” that some states have used to inflate federal... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend

Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend

We are at the end of the first quarter 2025 earning roll call, and Sonida Senior Living posted another solid quarter. Weighted average occupancy for its same-community portfolio (56 communities) increased by 100 basis points year over year to 86.8%, which is at the top end of many of its competitors. In addition, same-community RevPOR increased by 5.5% to $4,274 year over year, same-community net operating income increased by 19.3% to $16.1 million, and the same-community operating margin jumped by 280 basis points to 27.6%.  On a sequential basis, RevPOR increased by 1.8%, same-community net operating income increased by 4.5%, and same-community net operating margin jumped by 80... Read More »
Brookdale Occupancy Hits 81%

Brookdale Occupancy Hits 81%

Brookdale Senior Living reported its first quarter earnings results, and it appears to be building on the momentum started at the end of 2024. In addition, month-end occupancy in April topped 81.0%, marking the ninth straight month with ending occupancy above 80.0%. While it is great the company is making progress, there is still a lot more work to do.  After declining in the second half of 2024, the seniors housing operating margin increased to 28.4% in the first quarter. This represents a 130-basis point increase from the year-ago quarter, but a whopping 290-basis point increase sequentially. Meanwhile, RevPOR increased by 3.0% year over year and 4.6% sequentially, contributing to... Read More »
NHI Raises Guidance in Q1 Earnings Report

NHI Raises Guidance in Q1 Earnings Report

National Health Investors came out with its first quarter earnings and reported modest improvements in several financial metrics from the year-ago quarter. The REIT also increased its 2025 annual guidance range, which investors must have liked, pushing up the share price by nearly 3% in the trading hours following the announcement and earnings call to hit year-to-date highs. Net income attributable to common stockholders per diluted common share for the Q1:25 was $0.74 compared to $0.71 during the same period in the prior year. It also included approximately $300,000 in proxy contest and related expenses for a proxy campaign launched by activist investor Jonathan Litt’s Land &... Read More »
NHI Raises Guidance in Q1 Earnings Report

Ventas Posts Decent Q1 Earnings

Ventas came out with its first quarter earnings at the end of April, and although the results were decent, it may not have been the best timing to follow the strong quarter posted by Welltower earlier this week, as Ventas’s stock price tumbled 6.4% seemingly because the REIT affirmed its full-year guidance rather than increased it. By contrast, Welltower raised guidance and its stock price jumped 3.5% on the news. Ventas provided commentary on guidance for 2025 normalized FFO per share, outlining that it benefited from NOI growth in the SHOP segment and from accretive seniors housing investment activity in 2024 and expected in 2025. But it was partially offset by the impact of higher net... Read More »